Coherent excitation of a single atom to a Rydberg state

Journal Article · Thu Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.013405· OSTI ID:21442931

Miroshnychenko, Y; Gaeetan, A; Evellin, C; Grangier, P; Wilk, T; Browaeys, A ^[1]; Comparat, D; Pillet, P ^[2]

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1. Laboratoire Charles Fabry, Institut d'Optique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Universite Paris-Sud, Campus Polytechnique, RD 128, F-91127 Palaiseau CEDEX (France)
2. Laboratoire Aime Cotton, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Universite Paris-Sud, Batiment 505, Campus d'Orsay, F-91405 Orsay CEDEX (France)

We present the coherent excitation of a single Rubidium atom to the Rydberg state 58d{sub 3/2} using a two-photon transition. The experimental setup is described in detail, as are experimental techniques and procedures. The coherence of the excitation is revealed by observing Rabi oscillations between ground and Rydberg states of the atom. We analyze the observed oscillations in detail and compare them to numerical simulations which include imperfections of our experimental system. Strategies for future improvements on the coherent manipulation of a single atom in our settings are given.

• OSTI ID: 21442931
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 82, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.82.013405; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ATOMS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
EXCITATION
OSCILLATIONS
PHOTON-ATOM COLLISIONS
PHOTONS
RUBIDIUM
RYDBERG STATES
ALKALI METALS
ATOM COLLISIONS
BOSONS
COLLISIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY LEVELS
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EVALUATION
EXCITED STATES
MASSLESS PARTICLES
METALS
PHOTON COLLISIONS
SIMULATION